Booze, Broads, and Blackjack is Underway!

Not wanting to take a chance on sleeping with the fishes, Hectic Films is wide awake and underway on Booze, Broads, and Blackjack. 

A mobster film that has been finely tuned and scripted by the author himself, Carl Nicita.

The sets are being built, the cement shoes poured, and the actors have gathered to begin filming on this very ambitious project. 

Not wanting to wait around for the perfect time and opportunity, Hectic Films is doing what they do best. Putting their feet to the ground, their eye to the camera, and making Blockbuster style films on budgets that would terrify even the most Indie of filmmakers. 

Speaking of which, I know a guy who knows a guy who can get you in the credits and some other amazing perks if the price is right. Whattaya say? 

Head over to Indiegogo to check out the campaign that is up now.

Normally you gotta be a Made Man to get a deal this good, but we trust you. We can trust you, right?

I just got some more insider news for you as well. Come here. A little closer. Don't worry about the plastic on the carpet, I'm having the place painted soon. 

Joe Raffa will be starring as 'Jack King', Erica Rey will be 'Misty Rebel' and Sarah French will play 'Alicia Gonzalvo'.They will be joining Felissa Rose Esposito Miller who appears as 'Savannah Holly' and Dana (DT) Carney who will portray Detective Tom Maselli.

Volumes of Blood: Horror Stories (2016) Review

Verite Cinema has a new holiday horror movie for you to snuggle up in front of the fireplace with. Volumes of Blood: Horror Stories is the sequel to 2015's Volumes of Blood, an indie hit that redefined how to create an original idea within an old genre.

Volumes of Blood: Horror Stories steps up the kills to keep your cravings for carnage nourished. You won't have much time to sit back and wish for more from this buffet of blood, it comes full force and spooned right into your horror loving soul. 

While the kill scenes may be a little campy from time to time, you probably won't mind, because they have hidden many a horror fan easter eggs throughout the film. If you're watching with a friend, you can quickly glance over to share a knowing smile, or ridicule them later for not noticing something!

The dialogue in the film is better than most Hollywood films when it comes to being witty. I think even Shane Black would be hard pressed not to want to write down some of the lines for use later.

The stories all take place in and around a single home. Such as the first film centered on a single library location, only this time the plot jumps back and forth between timelines. While it can be a bit confusing at times, by the end of the film you will be completely caught up and in the know. Some stories are stronger than others, and for me personally, the current timeline lacked some of the punch of the past storylines. Also, for those who missed out on the first film and are starting off with this one (you're not doing it right) just remember that the first act is purposely hokey, so hang in there cupcake, the carnage is coming!

One thing that really stood out to me in this film was product placement. Maybe I'm just getting older and more cynical, but I'm pretty sure that by the end of the movie I had memorized the phone numbers for a cleaning service as well as a realty company in Kentucky. 

All in all, I enjoyed the sequel as a fan of horror movies as well as indie films in general, and wouldn't hesitate to encourage others to enjoy it as well, especially around the holidays.

Keep up to date on the Facebook Page: 

https://www.facebook.com/VOBanthology/

And check out the trailer below!

Witching & Bitching (2013) Review

Disclaimer: This movie uses what has been the cause of many fist fight and even some hair pulling for control over the remote – Sub-Titles! Most long hair, smelly, have the taste for the chronic, basement dwelling, pizza faced, horror aficionados would rather go upstairs and talk to their moms than watch a movie with subtitles. It's a shame the horror, gore, cinematic blasphemy counter culture has a long history of spewing out from countries that don't speak English. During Kung Fu Hustle my buddy firmly had the headlock engaged (might have passed out just for a second or two) before I earned a reprieve for bringing a subtitled movie into his house by everyone on screen kung fu fighting.

This movie opens at a run and keeps the pace up throughout, except for some creepy dude's close up while he is trying to get a cheap feel from an unexpecting, hot on the tail, just trying to use the nasty third world public restroom, ex-wife. A lot of the movie the viewer just has to hold on and let it do to you what it will (kinda like the first date in a creepy old dude's, with one hand, Delta 88 with the passenger side door handle nonfunctional). A lot of people can call out every plot point and twist before they happen, on top of never shutting up. But with this movie just relax and take it, it will all be ok I promise.......

YouTube Trailer Witching & Bitching

Jose is a poor sap who just wants to drink, have fun and get laid, and hang out with his son -- all things that piss off the ex-wife. As his own personal “No Ma'am” support group flees the scene of a crazy opening (take note future directors) with cops and ex-wife closely on their tails, things keep going downhill and weirder. The definition of a good friend is someone that will bail you out, but a great friend will be sitting beside you saying “that was fun!.” This trio of female hating man-children quickly wish they were safely in jail surrounded by bodybuilding members of the man-on-man love association while the guards are getting coffee with the surveillance cameras turned off. All the while, Jose's son Sergio is having the time of his life through all the mayhem. He is happy to be out of school and even happier to be hanging out with his dad.

Things start calming down once they meet the hot leather wearing blonde amazonian motorcycle chick played by Carolina Bang. (My sole goal in life right now is to watch more of her movies). This is just the thing three honorary members of No Ma'am need, want or have anything to do with is a bondage with a little castration practicing Fertility Cult. Strangely Sergio is totally ok with letting the hot blonde do whatever she wants. Jose, on the other hand, knows what's coming in a one-time, one-way ticket to snip town. He wants nothing to do with the vivacious girl licking his face. Of course, being in front of a girl's mom and grandmother is always a little awkward (unless that's your thing).

No, this isn't the kind of film that would be behind the grimy curtain, in the smelly video store, north of town up by the state line. This is the most awesomeness horror movie EVER! But seriously, while Blockbuster would have had a policy against a movie like this, Netflix knows what pasty skinned basement dwellers wants, (cough cough Human Centipede). Thanks to the internet, bringer of all things we can watch late at night in the privacy of our own rooms far from the judgment of society (unless you're stupid enough to write a review about said movie).

YouTube German Trailer Witching & Bitching

Warning: If you watch this with any females or PC righteous asshats, they do not talk to you for at least a week (which isn't necessarily a bad thing). But they will put this on the list of things they will hold against you until the day you die (of course one more thing can't hurt). So make sure to clear not only your browsing history and on Netflix, and be prepared to have a good cover story just in case you come home to an intervention, like a computer virus that loaded and watched this movie when you weren't home.

Jason Bourne (2016) Review

Matt Damon is back in the Jason Bourne shoes again as he makes his return to the franchise in this something number sequel.

There are guns, car chases, explosions, and hand to hand combat, much as the same as the other films in the series. However, this time around it seems that the studio has decided to forego the clever fight choreography and stunt work and just hand the cameras to some seizure prone cameramen. 

Please, let me not understate this, Jason Bourne used so much shaky cam footage that halfway through the movie I wished I was re-watching The Blair Witch Project, just so I could occasionally catch a break when someone dropped the camera.

Any fight choreography was demolished by the shaky cam craziness, even the inner office scenes used it, when it wasn’t even useful!

I was a pretty big fan of the other films, but this one just left such a bad taste in my mouth, I am fairly certain I am finished with the series. Good news is, I caught a trailer for an upcoming Jack Reacher movie starring Tom Cruise due out next year, so hey, same movie, different actors. 

I was hoping for a little spice via Tommy Lee Jones in Jason Bourne, but I think his spiciness has been replaced with a mighty big teaspoon of age. Every time he was on screen I just wanted to hug him, cause he looked so grandfatherly lost and confused.

If you like things exploding that make no sense, car chases that last way too long and do nothing exciting, and unrealistic  physics, you may enjoy the new Jason Bourne movie, but if you want a good movie, you should probably just choose a different film to watch. 

A Familiar Spirit (2016) Review

While Halloween is still three months away, Hectic Films isn’t willing to wait to wet the appetite of the horror fans out there!

A Familiar Spirit is the newest in an ever expanding list of indie film magic that Hectic Films has been putting together while breaking barriers that have long since defined the film industry.

This isn’t your normal cut and paste horror film based on a single style of filming. It bleeds over and oozes through multiple camera uses, movements, and styles. From the security cam footage to the amazing and genius “Jack Dog” shaky cam, you get the emotional pull of being in the scene without that motion sickness side effect when a film tries to use it for the whole movie. 

A Familiar Spirit is based on actual events from Bakersfield, CA. One of the oldest historical areas of Kern County, Oleander has been said to still hold many of the souls that made their lives there, long after their bodies have been returned to the ground and their voices slowly forgotten.

Chris Kovacs plays Jim, a grade 'A' ass-hat of a boyfriend who decides to set up security cameras in the hopes of catching a local thief in the act, even though he should be doing it to get justice for his girlfriend Cynthia who was injured by the vandal hurling a rock through their front window. 

Chelsea Newman absolutely nails the role of Cynthia, the terrified girlfriend who wants nothing more than to leave, but who begrudgingly tries to hold it together in a world where the things of nightmares are slowly starting to seep into the waking world.  

Erica Rey also shines in her role as Samantha, the sexy roommate who is not your cookie cutter horror movie bimbo. She has a dark fire in her eyes and sarcasm that slides off her tongue so perfectly it leaves you wishing she had more lines in the film. 

The story follows the three of them as they each deal with the horrors of a haunting in their own ways. From the denial of Jim, the reluctant acceptance of Cynthia, to the nonchalant “Deal with it” attitude of Samantha we get to see just how the human psyche absorbs and handles reality when everything we have ever known is challenged and ultimately shredded by the whispering of spirits, the playing of poltergeist, and the terror of manifested demons. 

Just remember, Familiar Spirits can be called anywhere, and may show up at any time. So as the lights dim and the screen lights up with the Hectic Films logo, you might not want to concentrate too hard on that shadowy movement you just saw from the corner of your eye. 

A Familiar Spirit will have a Special Screening at Heroes & Horror Con III in Bakersfield, CA on September 10th, 2016

You can check out the event pages by clicking the links above.